A project from UNISUL (University from South of Santa Catarina) will study the links between energy, food and water consumption for Brazil in the context of climate change mitigation strategies. The research will be performed in partnership with University of Cambridge an PUC-SP (Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo) and will be supported by Newton Fund and FAPESC (Research and Innovation Support Foundation of Santa Catarina State).

The project includes one international conference in Brazil plus three international workshops (two in England and one in Brazil). The conference will happen between Sept 22nd and 24th, on UNISUL, at Florianópolis. During 2015, through these workshops and the conference, the group will create the foundation for a long term collaboration that will contribute to the understanding of the integration of climate change actions (legal, political and policy-making) to sustainable human development objectives, with a focus on the sustainability challenges of Brazil regarding the use of energy, food and water resources.

The idea is to combine the qualitative and quantitative research capabilities of the three universities and establish a solid collaboration, based on preparation and sharing methods developed on them. In 2014, the researchers Jean Francois Mercure and Pablo Salas (from Cambridge), visited Florianopolis to present their papers at the REGSA conference, organised by Prof. Baltazar Guerra (UNISUL). They invited Prof. Guerra to present his research at the University of Cambridge, visits that took place on September 2014. “One month later, the RCUK-CONFAP Newton Fund call was launched, and they all decided to participate as a group, to strengthen the relationship between the Department of Land Economy at the University of Cambridge and Brazil”, Mercure says.

The major contribution from Cambridge researchers on the project is their experience on using modeling platforms to study the climate change mitigation policies. “The process of creating new policies starts with the analysis of the current situation, including the legal, political, economic and environmental landscapes. The effectiveness of policy is something very difficult to assess, and therefore this project aims to create the guidelines for future work on that area, including the design of effective climate change mitigation policies for Brazil”, Mercure explains.

Brazilian partners, besides to share knowledge about local subjects, will learn to use platforms developed in Cambridge to study energy specific themes and help to design the content of politics initiatives.  As a result, the research becomes important on politics decisions that could have impact on quality of life at country side and in low-income communities. “Through an analysis of legal contexts and of governance, they will detail the real and potential politics of mitigation for Brazil, facilitated through the collaboration with local experts, with insights about opportunities and  challenges”, Andrade Guerra says.

Written by: Jéssica Trombini – CONFAP/FAPESC